Forever and Always
by The Dark Knight 21
Summary: Oneshot. Tragedy. Anri x OC. R and R, please. Written quickly, so please ignore any trivial mistakes.


It was perhaps the most remarkable night I had ever spent, in spite of my broken condition and the immense amounts of physical pain I was in. Even still, I don't know if she was aware of the degrees of release and freedom she had given to me.

Even if she were, I doubt that it factored into her decision to stay with me.

She had given me so much: each comforting word, every soft touch and kind embrace flowed out from the depths of her pure, loving, genuine heart. I saw in those fateful moments the essence of her kindness and generosity. I had told her many times before that she did not have to do this out of sympathy. But she refused to listen.

Her heart and compassion were as deep as the universe itself.

It was during my first campaign in the Shining Force that I first met the Princess Anri. From the moment I laid eyes on her I thought she was beautiful. It was not merely a physical attraction that I felt, although she did have a remarkable physique; I had seen firsthand her kindness and compassion towards the rest of our brigade. She was always eager to help anyone, whether it was teaching Arthur how to use magic or providing a listening ear and helpful advice to Mae and Max as they struggled to reveal their feelings towards one another. Every single act of hers was done from a pure heart and a motive to simply help others better their lives.

When I had finally found the resolve to tell her how I felt I was not sure how she would respond. Despite already having witnessed her great acts of kindness and compassion, one lone fear consumed my thoughts. I was no prince and could barely claim the title of being a legitimate knight. I was not the type of man that a princess could be with. I had nothing to give her other than my heart and hoped against hope that that would be enough.

After I had told her, she simply smiled at me through her beautiful blue eyes and took my hand in hers. I knew in that moment that she had accepted my invitation of love in spite of my less-than-noble status and the possible social implications it could bring. Our eyes locked and we sealed our newfound relationship with a gentle kiss.

Some two years later I had asked her what it was about me that drew her to me. She smiled at me and asked, "You don't remember when you saved my life?"

I admitted to her that frankly, I did not and asked her to elaborate.

"About a month before we started our courtship I had gone outside to bathe. It was just before nightfall and it was getting difficult to see. As I was heading back towards our headquarters I was attacked by a chimera. I had tried to cast my magic on it but my spells would not work and I started to panic. Then you came in behind the chimera and attacked it drawing its attention towards you and allowing me time to escape."

"That was you?" I said in shock. I could not believe what she told me. At the time of the attack, I had thought it was a local peasant girl that I had saved; certainly not the princess, not the one I desired to be with. In the dim light, I was unable to see who it was except that they needed a distraction to escape.

"How did you know it was I who saved you?" I asked.

"I recognized your voice when you told me to run," she said, smiling up at me. "I never did get a chance to say thank you. I was in shock when I arrived back with the rest of the group."

Listening intently to what she said I started to piece together the different parts of the story. When I had arrived back after fending off the chimera I remember that the group was nervous and concerned for Anri's well-being. Her best friend Tao told us that Anri had come in looking exhausted and could not bring herself to talk about what had happened. Tao told us that Anri had tried to use her magic to no avail and was in shock that her powers had failed her. At the time, I thought it best to leave her alone and let her come to terms with what had happened. I had no idea that she was the one I had saved.

Anri continued to smile at me and drew me into a warm embrace. "I owe you my life," she said. "Ever since that night I've seen you as my protector, my guardian angel. I've wanted to tell you ever since that night but," she began to blush, "I thought it unladylike to be so forward."

I held her close to me and whispered in her ear, "Anri, my love, will you stay with me… forever?"

She whispered back to me, "Forever and always."

We were to be wed three weeks later.

Now at this point, many of you would predict that Anri and I would live out our happy future together until we both grew old. I had dreamed of nothing else myself.

If only it were to be…

Just before we were married, I had visited Torasu, our newfound healer, to diagnose what I had assumed to be simply a bad headache. As he put his hands on my forehead I studied his expression carefully. Before he opened his mouth, I knew that it would not be good news.

"My friend, you should get your affairs in order. You have less than a month to live."

I was devastated by the news. I had thought my life was just beginning a new chapter. Instead it was nearly time to close the book. My eyes were glued to the floor as I heard him drone on a list of the consequences of my fatal disease: intense pain, possible blindness, amnesia and many other things. As he continued to speak, my mind was focused on only one thing: Anri.

I did not know what to tell her. My immediate thought was to tell her to run away and find true happiness with someone who could be there to share it with her. It was not fair to her to make her go through with our marriage when it would not last long enough to matter.

I came home from the healer distraught, my face as pale as Anri's beautiful locks of hair.

"What's wrong my love?" she probed.

I looked deep into her eyes, all of the tears and emotion and painful curse of denial welling up from within as I kissed her as tenderly as I could, bearing in mind that this could be the last time. As I broke the crushing news of my imminent demise to her she held to me tightly and wept with me. The tears fell off of our cheeks until it seemed we could cry no longer.

"You don't have to stay with me any longer," I managed to choke out through my tears. "Torasu said the pain is only going to get worse and that I may lose my ability to recognize those around me."

I whispered in her ear, "Anri, you are a beautiful person with so much to give. Leave me here, live your life and find fulfillment with someone who is able to share it with you."

She wrapped her arms around me and whispered back, "My guardian angel, I will do no such thing. I refuse to abandon you in your time of need."

She locked her eyes with mine and spoke back, "You are the one who I choose. Nothing, not even death itself, will keep us apart."

Our wedding took place just as we had imagined it. I had never witnessed a more beautiful sight than when Anri walked down the aisle, Nova escorting her towards me in place of her late father. It was a small ceremony with little pomp as the Shining Force had been informed of my condition.

Over the next several weeks my condition had begun to worsen just as Torasu had predicted. The pain grew in intensity and I suffered from violent convulsions. Throughout my entire decay, Anri watched over me tenderly, with the same compassion she had always shown towards those she cared about.

One night just as the moon was rising, I could feel that my time was nearly over. I could barely bring myself to sit up, let alone stand.

"I believe this will be the end, my love," I whispered into Anri's ear as she lay next to me.

I leaned over and kissed her softly. "Thank you for everything you have given to me," I choked out.

Anri looked up at me and smiled, trying hard to fight back tears, "Before you leave, I have something I want to give you. Hold on."

In that moment, her fingers and palms started to glow a blue color. She was beginning to cast a spell, but I did not know for what purpose. She put her hands on my temples and released a blast of electricity through my head.

As the lightning from the magic rattled in and out of my brain, the pain began to subside. My vision became clearer and I could comprehend what she had done. The electricity from the spell had weakened the control that the disease had on me and I felt my strength return.

"This will not last forever," she said. "But I wanted you to be fully aware of me, enough for us to give ourselves to each other one last time."

I smiled up at her as the last wave of pain subsided from my head.

And it was there, under the sight of the full moon on a bed of white flowers that we made the most tender, passionate love. Our kisses were deep and fulfilling as our bodies moved upon each other. Every so often she would deliver shocks to my body to intensify my pleasure.

We whispered of our love to each other many times throughout the night, eventually building up to a slow, climactic, white-hot release. In that moment, I was finally free, fully conscious of my lover. As we curled up next to each other I placed one of the white flowers atop her silver locks and kissed her one last time that night.

"You are the most beautiful person I've ever known, Anri. You didn't have to do this for me and yet you gave me yourself, your all, even when you knew it wouldn't end like we had dreamed. I owe you my deepest gratitude."

I ran my fingers through her hair as we began to drift to sleep together. "You will be a great ruler of this land. I will love you until my dying breath."

The tears began to fall from our eyes one last time as we held on in a tight embrace.

Several hours later, I was woken from my sleep as the pain began to return. It is now in my last hours that I write these words, fully aware that I will not live long enough to see them read. All of my thoughts are focused on the beautiful woman next to me. I want nothing more than to stay with her forever. It is the unfortunate product of the limitations of this world that keeps me from being able to fulfill my desires.

I know I have but few more breaths before it will all be over. I lean towards Anri and gently wake her.

"My love, it is time for me to enter the other side… I love you," I whisper as her hands turn blue and my consciousness starts to drift towards the great unknown.

"Forever and always," she finishes as I fade to black.


End file.
